Basic Concepts

In order to do well in the world, we need to make our connections. These are people, activities, groups, or places that we have a special relationship with and thus are more important to us than others. They might be on the same wavelength with us, or give us what we need, or take us to the next step in our lives. They help us get a job, learn a skill, or introduce us to new ways of doing things. They can help us in very mundane ways or be so wonderful they are like God intervening to help us in the world.

We cannot succeed just through hard work and belief in our dreams. If we want a good life, we need to do well with these special relationships. This book offers many practical aids to recognize your connections and have a better relationship with them.

Making your connections and doing well with them is also a spiritual practice. You do better with them if you get out of your ego and understand your temporary intertwinedness or interconnectedness with them. When you have trouble with them, you also do better if you learn from the lessons they are revealing to you.

The first section, labeled “Basic Concepts,” discusses the two most basic ideas of the book. The first chapter, labeled “Connections,” introduces the idea of connections. The second chapter, labeled “Current of the River of your Life,” introduces the idea of a flow or current to the river of your life. Rather than getting everything that you desire or want, you have to do the best you can within the current or flow or your life.

After this book is written, I am hoping to get it published. It would be helpful if you tell me any questions you may have or any parts that you have found helpful. If you have sections that you do not understand or you think are stupid or misguided, I would very much appreciate if you tell me. It is much better to hear these comments now, when I can easily change things, then later, after I have published a book. I will reflectively consider your concerns and, if warranted, I will change things to incorporate your concerns into the book. You can email me at waligore@yahoo.com. Please put “About Connections,” into the subject heading of the email.

This book was written by Joseph Waligore with the help of Michelle Stage. Joseph teaches philosophy and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. More information about him can be found at his MySpace profile or his Facebook profile. Michelle works in a bank in St. Paul, Minnesota as a learning consultant and in a Minneapolis night club as a dominatrix.

This website is one of four websites I have. Another one, www.followingtheflow.com is for spiritually oriented people and discusses very similar ideas from a more spiritually oriented perspective. Another one, www.josephwaligore.com is for academically or intellectually oriented people. It has my writings about spiritual philosophies such as Stoicism, Socrates, the Deists, the Enlightenment period, and the rise of modern science. Another one, www.spiritualcritiques.com, has critiques of many popular spiritual teachers and spiritual teachings. It looks at teachers like Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, Ken Wilber, and Pema Chodron. It also looks at teachings like “All is One,” “The Hundredth Monkey,” and “If it Rings True, it is True.”

There is a Facebook group called Flowing. People interested in meeting other people who are interested in these ideas and/or participating in discussions about these ideas are invited to join the group.

Many people reach this site through keyword advertisements. It might be of interest that Joseph got the money for these ads through his day trading profits.